“Solo: A Star Wars Story” clung to the top spot in North American theatres this weekend but again fell below expectations, taking in $29.3 million, just over a third its opening-weekend receipts, said box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The three-day estimate left the film well behind two recent predecessors in the popular sci-fi franchise: 2016’s “Rogue One” made $64 million in its second weekend while last year’s “The Last Jedi” did even better, at $71 million, according to Variety.

Some film analysts blame “Star Wars” fatigue. Even by the standards of today’s sequel/prequel-heavy Hollywood, the franchise has been prolific.

Still, the Disney/Lucasfilm collaboration, starring Alden Ehrenreich as a younger version of the swashbuckling space pilot, has amassed a cumulative global total of $264 million, something even Chewbacca probably would not sneeze at.

A strong second in North American theaters was “Deadpool 2” from 20th Century Fox, at $23.3 million. That movie, the 11th instalment in the X-Men series based on Marvel Comics characters, stars Ryan Reynolds as the surly title character.

In third spot was a new release, ‘Adrift’ from STX Films, at $11.5 million.

The movie stars Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin in the true-life story of a young couple whose sailboat is slammed by a hurricane in mid-ocean, leaving Claflin badly injured, the boat in ruins and Woodley having to find the way back without navigation or communication tools.

In its sixth week out, Disney’s “Avengers: Infinity War” performed well, pulling in $10.4 million for fourth place.

The film, starring Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch and Scarlett Johansson, has now taken in $643 million domestically and a resounding $1.96 billion worldwide, making it the fourth biggest global release of all time.

And in fifth in North America was Paramount’s rom-com “Book Club,” at $6.8 million.

It stars Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen as aging friends whose decision to read the steamy “Fifty Shades” trilogy ends up stimulating more than just their intellects.-AFP